Squad swelling for Pompey

Sir Alex Ferguson is hopeful that his squad will be boosted by the return of a handful of key players in time for Monday evening's trip to Portsmouth.

Carlos Tevez, who missed last weekend's draw with Newcastle after a family bereavement, will play after featuring for Argentina on Wednesday, giving United a vital extra body in attack.

There is also a chance that Owen Hargreaves and Ryan Giggs could be in contention after training this week, while Anderson will return this weekend from Brazil's Olympic team.

Ji-sung Park has also taken great strides in recent days, and has played a full part in training all week, but the trip to Fratton Park will come too soon for him.

"Tevez is back," Sir Alex told his pre-match press conference. "He’s available. Hargreaves and Ji-sung Park both trained with the first team this week, I’m delighted with that. Ji won’t be considered, Hargreaves we’ll assess on Sunday to see if he can play a part.

"Anderson will be back on Sunday, so that’s an extra body. Giggs has trained the last couple of days, plus all the players have come back from internationals fit, which is a bonus, so we’re ok in that respect."

The United manager also confirmed that Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo are on schedule for their own returns from injury - three weeks and three months respectively.